Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Aakash Hassan in Delhi
Millions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities.
In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been removed.
The process of revising the electoral roll, known as Special Intensive Revision (SIR), has been taking place in states and territories across India, justified by the Narendra Modi government as a way to stop “infiltrators” – a pejorative term largely referring to illegal Muslim Bangladeshi immigrants – from voting.
The divisive exercise by the central Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government to “purify” the electoral roll – in the words of home minister Amit Shah – has led to a chorus of fury.
The drawing up of a new electoral register has been carried out at unprecedented speed, ahead of the West Bengal state elections which will begin on Thursday. The BJP, led by prime minister Modi, is hoping to seize power from Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party that has ruled the state for 15 years.
“What has happened in Bengal is a constitutional crime. It is a crime against the people of India, against the people of Bengal,” said Sagarika Ghose, an MP for TMC.
“This will go down as a scandal in the history of post-independence India,” added Ghose. “One person, one vote is a great right given to the Indian people by the Constitution. However poor you are, however helpless you are, you have that right to vote. But that has been snatched away.”…
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After the truth-shower 